Two of Japan’s whaling ships have returned home from Antarctic with no catch onboard for the first time in nearly 30 years, local news reported. The news comes after a UN court ordered an halt to Japan’s annual “scientific” whale hunt.

This is the first time the whale-hunting vessels have returned
“empty-handed” since 1987, the year Japan started its
annual scientific hunt of whales in the Antarctic, according to
Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Researchers who took part in the expedition focused on observing
marine mammals from aboard the ships. They conducted the survey
and only took skin samples of the whales.

In 1986, a moratorium against commercial whaling came into force,
under the International Whaling Commission (IWC), as whale
populations plummeted toward collapse after decades of
industrial-scale whaling.

Since then, Tokyo has used a provision in the whaling convention
that allows killing whales “for purposes of scientific
research.” Japan began whaling for “scientific research”
back in 1987, saying that most whale species were not endangered.

In March 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled that
Japan must stop whaling in Antarctica, saying that Tokyo had
produced insufficient scientific data to justify the killing of
whales for research. Tokyo canceled its Antarctic hunt, but
carried out a smaller version of the hunt in the Northern Pacific
in the summer.

Japanese authorities then said that they planned to resume
“research” whaling hunting by the end of 2015. In
September, Japan submitted a new plan to the International
Whaling Commission and its Scientific Committee, which set an
annual target of 333 minke whales for future hunts instead of
900.

Japanese whaling is a centuries-old tradition which dates back to
the 12th century. During the 2014 Antarctic hunt 251 minke whales
were killed and 103 the previous year, according to data from
Japan's fisheries agency. In the Northwest Pacific, 132 whales
were killed in 2013, and 92 off the Japanese coast. Meat from the
whales usually ends up in food markets.

Environmental organizations have repeatedly staged protests
against whaling, which is also popular in Norway and Iceland.